The benefits of entrenching a safety culture in the workplace were shared among Indian businesses today at a workshop hosted by Rio Tinto. More than 30 Rio Tinto suppliers and partners drawn from the goods and services sectors across India attended the event in Delhi to underscore the importance of Collaborating to Enhance Safety Culture. With safety being a core value of Rio Tinto, the event was aimed at sharing knowledge and industry best practices and provided an opportunity to discuss current issues on safety among suppliers and partners in India. Rio Tinto India, Managing Director, S. Vijay Iyer said, “At Rio Tinto, safety is at the heart of everything we do. We greatly value our relationship with suppliers in India and expect them to play a critical role in our future growth.”
The inaugural safety-focused workshop with suppliers reiterated Rio Tinto’s focus on safety and commitment to promoting a safe and healthy workplace. During the workshop, experts spoke on diverse aspects of building a safety culture. In the spirit of a collaborative dialogue, Rio Tinto’s partners and suppliers shared their own experiences and insights: DuPont shared ideas and learnings on ‘safe practices during manufacturing’ while others added their thoughts during an invigorating panel discussion. Participants in the panel discussion on the ‘Safety Culture in India’ were Sandvik, Cyient, DuPont and ERM. Noting the increased understanding of safety and its significance among businesses in India, the panelists pointed out the slow yet certain shift in the industry towards a philosophy of ‘designing for safety’, as opposed to safety being considered as one of the peripheral requisites.
The panel discussion was preceded by a presentation on the role of standards in the global value chain and Indian manufacturing’s the export potential. To mark this day, all participants of the workshop were awarded certificates from Rio Tinto.
Greg Courts, Leader Emerging Markets, Rio Tinto Procurement, said, “Safety is just plain good business. It is well known that business leaders who embrace a culture of safety within their organizations will generate greater returns for their shareholders”. Attendees included supplier organizations and experts on industrial safety spanning diverse sectors such as Electrical, Material handling equipment, processing equipment, Raw material, Casting / Foundry suppliers in Mining sector, as well some from the services sector including BEML, CBRE, Elecon, KPMG, Larsen & Toubro, Mahle and Tata group companies.
